Verizon CEO says the iPhone isn’t coming anytime soon

In the undulating waves of internet gadget scuttlebutt, there is a regularly oscillating peak that always corresponds to the imminent coming of the VerizoniPhone.

The rumor’s constant repetition is the result of wishful thinking: while millions of Americans would love to jump to a superior wireless network for the iPhone, Verizon’s CDMA network would require Apple to build Verizon an entirely new handset, which would basically be unusable on almost any other network in the world. Since Apple thinks globally, that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but nonetheless, the rumor persists, having resurfaced earlier this week with reports that Apple was readying 3 million CDMA iPhones for delivery by the end of the year.

Don’t hold your breath, though, because if Verizon is getting the iPhone, even their CEO Ivan Seidenberg doesn’t know it. Here’s what he recently said on the matter:

“We don’t feel like we have an iPhone deficit. We would love to carry it when we get there, but we have to earn it… I think 4G will accelerate the process, and any other decisions Apple makes would be fine with us.”

Translation? Verizon won’t get the iPhone until they have a 4G network to support it, at which point they’ll have “earned” the device… but since Verizon rolling out 4G to subscribers isn’t going to start happening until later next year at the earliest, the iPhone is at least a year or two away from the hands of Verizon subscribers.

Speak Your Mind

sms88

Lots of errors in that article.

First of all, there are CDMA networks throughout North America, South America, and Asia. You can use a CDMA phone in China, India, Taiwan, Israel, Korea, etc. Not in Europe of course, but to say that a CDMA handset would be unusable on almost any other network in the world shows a lack of knowledge of the deployment of the different network standards throughout the world.

Second, dropping a CDMA and LTE chipset into the existing iPhone design would be a rather simple task for the chipset vendor and Apple to accomplish, and considering the volume of handsets they’d be able to sell as a result it’d be a no-brainer.

Third, the CEO of Verizon never said that a Verizon iPhone was not coming. Verizon has already announced end-of-life dates in 1Q 2011 for their 3G smart phones, because their new line will be CDMA/LTE. It’s not going to be a hard sell of a Verizon iPhone to geeks that understand that 4G is coming soon, but in the meantime they have access to the largest 3G network in the country and the best voice network in the country.

Fourth, Apple is desperate to compete against the Android on other carriers. Android based handsets are already outselling iOS based handsets and that represents a huge loss of revenue from both handset sales and from content sales. Apple needs Verizon a lot more than Verizon needs Apple.

hodar

I beg to disagree, and here is why.

1) If Verizon were to announce that they were getting the iPhone, sales of existing phones and the 2yr contracts that go with them would cease until the iPhone arrived. Verizon likes the cash revenue and wants to keep it coming.

2) Verizon and AT&T will soon BOTH use LTE. Thus, Verizon getting the iPhone is inevitable, and will very likley be the iPhone 5, which will be a LTE/something else phone; where ‘something else’ will likely be GSM. But by virtue of being LTE, the iPhone will work on either network seamlessly.

3) Verizon has existing contacts with Motorola, Samsung, Nokia and others; who would take severe umbrage at being told that they would have to compete in the iPhone market. There is nothing to gain by irritating your suppliers.

4) Apple is contractually obligated to AT&T for the remainder of the year, if Apple were to formally announce that they are dissolving their partnership, they will be in a weaker negotiating position for AT&T ‘kickbacks’.

5) CDMA is primarly an American standard, which is going away in the near future. Is there a reason to create and release a CDMA based phone, when Verizon will be LTE starting next year? If Apple were to make a CDMA/LTE phone – the phone’s CDMA capabilties will likely fade away over the next 5-10 years (in America), well beyond the phone’s estimated usage life. The question is are expected sales significant enough, by Apple’s standards’ to justify entering the CDMA market.

In any event, I expect Apple to release a CDMA/LTE phone in the January – June time period. I also expect them to avoid a direct answer or to refuse to answer the question, as to whether they will do this. Apple is contractually obligated to do this. I don’t expect Apple to lie, I expect Apple to side-step the question.

Verizon will outright lie. Bold, in your face, open deceit, blindly stupid, as honest as a politician lie. They have a financial reason to maintain current sales; and have no sense of honor, ethics, morals or customer loyalty. Like most American companies – they are more concerned with what is ‘legal’ and have no concern at all for what is ‘right’.

hodar

Re: sms88

Nice summary, and I had totally ignored your point on Apple needing to compete against Android for marketshare. Your analysis makes a lot of sense; Apple needs to claim marketshare – and there is no viable reason for them to deny themselves access to ~50% of the US phone market.

Electronista was first to report Friday that industry sources had notified Digitimes of a November start for production of a CDMA iPhone 4. Sources said shipments of the smartphone from Taiwanese hardware manufacturer Pegatron will likely reach “3-4 million units in the first three months, and 10 million by mid-2011.”